The Touro Experience - A Conversation with Dean Dr. Robert Goldschmidt

Well, as we uh as we've been emphasizing for the last couple of weeks, the month of June is dedicated to dads and grads. And the um the dads had their day this past Sunday. The grads, it seems, have almost every day in May and June and graduations galore going on, whether it's a middle school, elementary school, high school, college, uh the graduate school. Seems like starting around May 1st until now, there is some type of celebratory ceremonies that are going on to uh to note the passage of time and the accomplishments of so many great students out there. Well, it is the same at Turo University where um they have been enjoying, as we said earlier in the week, they've been enjoying some great graduations, some wonderful ceremonies where they get to look back at the accomplishments of the students and their faculty and the institution in general as they come to a conclusion of this school year. But as Dean Gman's about to tell us, if you think that uh that things are dormant or quiet over the summer months leading into the fall, uh you are mistaken. He is the vice president of Tur University. He's the dean of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences in Flatbush, Brooklyn. And he's one of our favorite guests. Dean Goldman, a pleasure to welcome you back to JM in the AM. No, it's good to be with you and I want to at the outset uh uh commend you for running a program that is meaningful and enjoyable and uh seeks to uh share with your audience uh information and entertainment that is uh informative and elevating. There are many shows where the people who run the show are focused on themselves and in this particular case in your case you are focused on the audience have been for decades and its interest and its needs. So thank you and congratulations for running a great show. >> Well I thank you for that. Thank you Dean. That's coming from you especially very very meaningful and I appreciate that. So I mean people have gotten my perspective over these last few weeks about the graduation season. how satisfying and in general, how would you describe the atmosphere around your campuses when it gets to be this time of year? I have to assume that you're looking at it with tremendous uh gratitude and at the same time tremendous admiration for the students and faculty. Uh yes, I mean you're absolutely right, the graduation season and there are multiple graduations at Turo University because of the multiple graduate and professional schools and I'm focusing in particular on the undergraduate graduation of Turo's Lander Colleges, one of which is located in Brooklyn where I am headquartered, right? One is in Manhattan and one is in Queens. That particular graduation was held on May 31st >> at Alisty Hall in Lincoln Center. Nice. >> It was a exuberant event about 1,500 parents and guests and uh we presented over 500 graduates. All of these are undergraduate students earning their baloria degree. Many of them moving on to professional fields, many in Turos's graduate schools. And it was an extremely joyous celebration. Uh I found it very re rewarding because uh my focus for all these years uh for a long time has been on students helping them chart a pathway to the future helping them build lives that are meaningful lives where they can contribute to uh their community and at the same time uh um help support their families and dignity and and that graduation was sort of the exclamation point uh saluting the students who had reached that particular uh milestone in their lives. Uh it is the happiest moment uh of the year for the students. No doubt they have reached the end point of their undergraduate studies and for me personally it's an extremely joyous event to see the results of the work of Turo faculty uh administration and my help in guiding the students in bringing them to that point. So it's an extremely extremely joyous event and as I say we look forward to it. People don't realize by the way no it takes a lot of planning the graduation of college. >> I can only imagine the planning comes from my office. I'm I'm blessed with a a dedicated and loyal staff. Multiple of things to do to prepare for it. But it was indeed a great sim a great sim. And obviously you're surrounded at events like that by hundreds and over the years thousands of students who understand the value of a college education and a college degree. And you know Dean Goldrin it's no secret especially in this country now people are debating openly about the value of the education about the value of a college degree. Um what do you say to people? What do you say to parents that you meet who wonder if it's worth the investment? Students who wonder if it's worth the time. You know my opinion on this. We've always lauded uh Turo for being, you know, re real courses and real degrees and um a real starting point for those who want employment in so many different areas. What's the conversation like uh when you are met with this college education skepticism? >> Well, uh there is a lot of that in the country. You're right. And there are multiple sources for that. Some of it has to do with really the permeation of political attitudes and issues into the campus and into the curriculum. Uh and you know I I don't want to belabor that point but people fully understand that uh uh my uh argument in meeting with parents and speaking to students is that we at Turo University in our undergraduate schools then in our graduate schools we offer meaningful pathways. We are focused at the undergraduate level on providing students with a very solid education that is oriented towards a pre-professional uh uh uh preparation, a pre-professional education. So the focus here is you are pursuing a degree. We enable you to pursue that degree uh by preparing you for professional careers where the degree despite all the debate uh that you hear and the criticism the gateway to a whole host of professional fields remains that undergraduate degree. Now there are people who strike out on their own. people who uh uh undertake uh areas of work uh emphasizing entrepreneurship and some people have the the discipline and the talents for that. Many don't. But if you're looking at what are mainstream professional fields uh which leads to a very solid paranoa that college degree is the gateway and we emphasize the fact that in a world where there are such a hostile atmosphere at so many public universities I don't want to name any particular university but it's evident in so many ways and has been publicized at universities in the city of New York and and and other states and other cities. Uh a student at Turo will find that he or she is in a very supportive environment where your values as a student who identifies as a religious from Jewish student will find herself or himself supported rather than challenged. So you're not in any way diverted from your main focus and that main focus should be that education and we facilitate that education and that progress towards a balora degree by recognizing work and studies that our undergraduates those who come to Turo have accomplished prior to coming to Torah. And what do I mean by that? We recognize the value of studying in Israel study. uh we have an Israel option program and a student who will study at the seminary or at yeshiva in Israel uh his or her credits will then be transferred and countered towards a balorate degree. Uh we have flexibility in many many ways by offering courses in a variety of modalities. We have them on campus but we recognize in the changing world zoom classes are are are quite uh quite important. you have the convenience of being at home and being in a live class with an instructor and at the same time we also offer online courses. But to answer again to come back to your initial question and that is the degree has value if you are focused on pursuing professional careers in areas that are likely to grow and and likely to provide you with with a you know a solid foundation in terms of uh earning a a a parnosa that will support you and your family in in dignity. And there are a number of such fields that exist at TURO that we offer to students at Turo. Just to mention a few that are very popular. We are very big in the area of the health sciences. A student who comes to tour as an undergraduate has the option of pursuing any one of the health fields that he or she wishes. Whether it's medicine or dentistry or nursing or physician assistant or physical therapy or occupational therapy or speech therapy, all of these options, all of these tracks are available at Turo. And by the way, if you look at the uh at data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics where they project demand for people in particular fields, at the top of the scale, at the top of the table are the health fields and as I say we are very big player in that particular area. Uh another area you know which we we offer great options which also has potential happen to be in fields of technology. We have a program a major in cyber security uh a fully updated program in computer science and the other area which has been a a perennial at Turo a perennial of strength has been our accounting CPA program and we offer now an accelerated accounting CPA program. So we are looking to prepare students for careers that are relevant and meaningful and and and and well remunerated >> and and and you've outlined so many that have been uh traditionally for our community very active very well pursued a lot of very successful students. I mean, you could point God knows how many successful people in all the fields you just mentioned uh that got their basic training in that field uh from Turo uh from the undergrad and then pursued a a degree and have done exceedingly well. I mean, we do this every time that you're on. Uh we talk about how the incredible foundation they've gotten at Turo has led to really many, many, many brilliant careers. And as proud as you are at graduation, I can only imagine how proud you are when you hear stories about people who've become extremely successful in those fields. >> Uh yes, I am proud of them. And you're right, we have many people uh who who have achieved great success becoming partners for example at major accounting firms holding high positions in the health science field at hospitals uh like Mount Si uh Colombia Presbyterian etc. But I want you to know it's not just the individual stories and there are many many great success stories. Uh I I look at it in in a as a large totality because the students almost all of them have achieved their they set their own educational goals. We don't tell them what to do but we help them to reach that particular goal. And by and large, I mean one of the uh one one uh uh satisfying element in attending weddings which I do to some extent I had to go is that I need students who come over and say dean thank you I was a student at Turo x amount of years today and I say what do you do and they tell me something wonderful. >> So those nas moments are something that always give me give me always energize me so to speak. I mean uh again our focus is and has been at Turo on students their success on students as individuals not just the numbers in the crowd and and and that's been our focus at Toro for for since its inception actually but it's a focus that Turo maintains today and I as I mentioned these are undergraduate students and they have the beauty of it is that many of them choose to pursue graduate programs professional programs in one of the 12 Turo graduate and professional schools where they will be in an environment where some of the same characteristics that permeated their undergraduate education uh will will be there there that will be a challenge with Shabasto with kosher food etc. It's a very welcoming atmosphere that that the school promotes under the leadership of our current president Dr. Alan Kadish and it's something that the students find whether they are at the campus in Flatbush at the land of college of arts and sciences at the land of college for women in Manhattan at the land of college for men in Queens and they'll find the same thing at our medical school uh uh in in Westchester New York medical college they'll find the same thing at Tuturo College of Dental Medicine School of Pharmacy social work etc. So the the the beauty of Turo for students as an option is that you've got this option opportunity uh to make that seamless transition. Again, you have to meet the standards, you have to have the grades, you have to have the test scores, but you can make that seamless transition from our undergraduate schools to our graduate schools and remain in a supportive Jewish atmosphere and at the same time pursue an education that emphasizes excellence. We are not here to hand out degrees as pieces of paper. I always tell tell students you have to earn that degree and earning that degree means that when the student when she graduates or he graduates they are fully prepared for the next step which for many of them is graduates and professional school and for some of them such as people who majored in computer science or our accounting CPA program which is top rated for them the next step is stepping into the world of work and they are fully employment ready >> Dean Goldmitt's with us he's vice president at the Tor University is the dean of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences located in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Finally, Dean, I alluded to this at the beginning of our conversation. I mean, many many across this country would say that in the administrative space, education has become a 12-month a year a year round uh job, a year- round pursuit. And um we joked a bit off the air that uh years ago somebody in an academic leadership role might be able to take a month or two off during the summer, but that does not exist anymore. Tell us what's happening on the campus during the summer months and how seriously your faculty is taking the preparatory stage right now for the fall semester. >> Well, uh you're absolutely right. uh in the olden days so to speak one could say that the uh the academic year ended in June and yet that's a window of two two and a half months of vacation that is gone we just started this past Monday summer session one and we have a very nice cohort of undergraduates pursuing that for listeners who might be uh interested in having their son or daughter still take some summer courses by the way we have a second summer session which begins on the 27th of July July nice and ends in the last week in August. So there's still an opportunity to earn the six, seven credits in that second four-week summer period. If anybody's interested, I'm mentioning our director of admissions, Mrs. Jennifer Burkowitz, Jennifer.itzuro.edu. And if you contact her, she could provide you information about the second session, how to apply, and then registration. Uh it's a fullscale operation in the summer. It's not what it used to be and the faculty obviously are involved in teaching and there's also a good amount of work that goes on in the summer on the part of the faculty on the part of administration. I know what's going on in my office to prepare for the fall which involves preparation for orientation uh all sorts of other events which begin the fall semester. communicating with students. We consider that very important and uh our communication involves not just emails but the old-fashioned personal way of calling students and all that is work that that happens during the summer. So if someone wants to say to a person teaching at TUR or running a an administrative office, you have a great vacation, they are not making an accurate statement because as I say, the summer is a very busy period and we are focused on making sure that our summer sessions which enable students to earn credits and accelerate their degrees uh are run well and that we are well prepared for the fall semester. has so so many opportunities at Turo. I want to re-emphasize that I mentioned them. I want to mention one other item. >> Sure. >> Which perhaps didn't fit that neatly in the various fields I mentioned. One of the newest uh initiative we have uh we have launched a year ago a short-term program. The short-term program is a program for students who would be interested in eventually working in healthcare and nursing home administration. And we offer a sequent five courses 15 credits that are required for uh the exam that uh uh uh people must take if they wish to consider becoming the nursing home administrators. That sequence uh of five courses is is offered uh as I say for the past year. And a student who's interested in that, you have to have a bachelor's degree to sit for the exam. But if you have that and you want to sit for the exam, you need these courses. You can complete 15 credits, the nursing home administration sequence, you can complete that in one semester. So there are students are doing it over the summer in nine weeks in the fall semester. It's a longer semester. Classes meet less frequently. But that particular uh option is one that I want to mention as something that was added recently in addition to our traditional offerings and some 20 different fields in the health sciences and psychology computers uh uh a variety of variety of fields accounting and business but as I say this short-term uh track in nursing home administration the required courses this is not a bachelor's degree right >> uh this leads to a certificate of completion, but it opens the door for you to sit for that required state test. >> And I think you mentioned last time that those who have taken entry-level positions in the nursing home industry, it's a it's a really really good way uh to keep the job, but at the same time advance in the field by getting that specific degree. So it's something they should consider as >> yeah I I mean with the with the courses and once you pass the exam uh you become an assistant nursing home administrator the the state requires practical work experience. So you have to put in that but once you pass the exam and you you accumulate the the required mandatory uh uh uh work experience and a paying job you can then move on and aspire to become the administrator and and and and it's an interesting field and many uh uh there are many individuals who look at it as something rewarding where they can work and and really uh you know make the lives of older people in those residences uh uh better and more comfortable. uh summer programming at Turo. Those of you who would like to take Dean Goldman's advice and pursue the courses being offered well now, but specifically the ones that start at the end of July and go through the end of August, which could be a great compliment uh for your course of studies. Uh contact Jennifer Burkowitz, Jennifer. Turo.edu. jennifer.berkowitz turo.edu. And obviously general information about all of this, plus all the programs and so much that's going on at Tour Universities and is available online. Turo.edu. Again, turo.edu. Well, Dean Goldman, I'm not going to wish you a good vacation, but I am going to wish you a very pleasant and wonderful summer. How's that? >> Thank you. I I appreciate that and I I I I look forward to that and I I reciprocate that wish and I want you to continue offering this uh uh great program to the audience. You have been doing this for decades and you you you are running the program uh this year no with the same vigor and the same enthusiasm as you did years ago and and you have to be commended for that and I always enjoy joining you on the program and speaking with you and to your audience of listeners. >> Thank you so much Dean. I really appreciate one of our favorite guests Dean Goldmith Tur University. Take advantage, folks. If you are of student age, if you're a parent of a student, if you're a neighbor or friend of a student, uh, Turo is an amazing recommendation, especially with all the specifics that Dean Goldman just gave us. And now is the time of year because every time of year is the time of year to start thinking about this. It's now a 12 month a year industry to say the least. Turo.edu for information. If you want to speak with Jennifer Burkow, it's about summer programming. jennifer.berkwitz turo.edu. More coming up. You're listening to a Wednesday morning edition of JM in the am